Sony: Close to launching a Playstation 3 movie download store

[ethanhawke]

Reliable sources believes that Sony is very close to launching a Playstation 3 movie download store.

Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal have reported that a spring update to the Playstation Network (Online part of the Playstation 3) will include a new design and a movie download store.

According to attendees of the "Destination Playstation" show (a retailer and publisher focused event) Sony showed off parts of the store to the crowd.

No doubt Sony will try to gain market from XBOX LIVE Marketplace and the iTunes Movie Store in the movie download business.

Sources: Kotaku, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times.

[dpomp]

i think it's a cool idea but i will download very little, if any movies because of space and i would like to take my movies with me to watch instead of being stuck on the ps3. i think it would get more business (from me that is) if it was more like "rent" the movies for say 2 bucks or so. and all new releases in HD. that way i can view before i buy.

[rebfandan]

Originally Posted by dpompeo

i think it's a cool idea but i will download very little, if any movies because of space and i would like to take my movies with me to watch instead of being stuck on the ps3. i think it would get more business (from me that is) if it was more like "rent" the movies for say 2 bucks or so. and all new releases in HD. that way i can view before i buy.

It may be possible to watch them on your PSP. That might be something...

[rebfandan]

Hmmmmm....interesting. I don't really understand why they would push movie downloads. Are the downloads in SD? I hope so because if they turn out to be HD, that could prove to be counter-productive to their efforts to support and push BD. Sounds like a conflict of interests, but I'm no expert.

[u_nick]

Well, I think the 360 has the system of a 'rental' service. You get a certain number of views or time to watch, and then you would have to pay again. Apple too.

Maybe there are options to keep the download as well, but from what I read, they try to push the rental service mostly.

A good way to preview a movie first before buying.

[Blu-ray Fanatic]

Movie downloads??? What a waste of money. I guess it'll be like paying for pay-per-view. If that's the case, then I'll wait until the price drops down to 0.99 or something or if it goes on demand for free.

[Luis_A51]

Its only to take away a talking point for the 360. Even if they are "720p" they wont be anywhere near BD quality. They'll probably be rentals too.

[OokieSpookie]

Originally Posted by Luis_A51

Its only to take away a talking point for the 360. Even if they are "720p" they wont be anywhere near BD quality. They'll probably be rentals too.

Exactly.
Their job is to appeal to every consumer and as much as some people live in a happy blu bubble some people would rather just be able to rent a download.
It is good business and as has been discussed numerous times they do not compete with blu at all.

[Blu-Style]

Originally Posted by rebfandan

Hmmmmm....interesting. I don't really understand why they would push movie downloads.

business competition I guess...

but I don´t need movie downloads...

[PS3ds]

It would be a rental service. It would not compete with BD at all.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by PS3ds

It would be a rental service. It would not compete with BD at all.

In fact, many people like to rent before they buy, to see whether they like the movie. This could be complimentary.

Gary

[Blu-Generation]

So basically the PS3 got almost everything to offer.

-Stuff that people hate
-Stuff that people want

It's a win-lose, lose-win situation. Good stuff!

[unreal1080p]

Originally Posted by ethanhawke

Reliable sources believes that Sony is very close to launching a Playstation 3 movie download store.

Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal have reported that a spring update to the Playstation Network (Online part of the Playstation 3) will include a new design and a movie download store.

According to attendees of the "Destination Playstation" show (a retailer and publisher focused event) Sony showed off parts of the store to the crowd.

No doubt Sony will try to gain market from XBOX LIVE Marketplace and the iTunes Movie Store in the movie download business.

Sources: Kotaku, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times.

What SONY should do is call these downloadable movies "Blu-Ray previews"Because with features like these (see below)... that's really all they are:

-720P
-low bitrates
-no lossless
-no extras
-no extended cuts
-no deleted scenes
-no behind the scenes
-no commentaries

SONY should take it a step further: They should give a 5$ e-coupon redeemable towards the purchase of THE SAME movie on Blu-Ray. The coupon should be valid in most Bricks & Mortar as well as for the major online stores (Amazon) and have an electronic expiry date of 1 year after the initial download was purchased.

If SONY did that, these downloads could serve "preview" or "rent" purposes and actually generate more Blu-Ray movie sales and, since SONY would be the only ones offering 5$ coupons, they could also steal away some business from the Crapbox360 POS movie downloads.

There is a way that this could be a WIN-WIN-WIN situation.

[DeeChizzle]

http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/ap/2...447908000.html

Looks like it's going to happen.

[Steven_qt]

Another link from another source.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...downloads.html

[Branden]

Originally Posted by unreal1080p

SONY should take it a step further: They should give a 5$ e-coupon redeemable towards the purchase of THE SAME movie on Blu-Ray.

now that is a great idea.
i'm not keen on movie downloads even as rentals, but if it came with a $5 off coupon code i'd consider it.

[saprano]

Given Sony's numerous film and television properties, making the transition into digital distribution of media content was a natural step for the maturing PlayStation 3 platform. Today in Japan, Sony CEO Howard Stringer presented the company's mid-term corporate strategy which included the first concrete details on the plan for on-demand video content moving forward, including a launch window of summer 2008.

After touting an installed base of 50 million network-enabled PS3 and PSP units and a plan to achieve profitability this year, Stringer moved forward to forecast a large-scale video service for Sony's entire empire. The store is touted as a "premium film and TV service." Aside from Sony titles, no other content deals have been announced. The as-yet-unnamed video store borrows the user interface from the recently-refined PlayStation Store, albeit with slightly lighter colors.

The video service isn't one bound only to the PlayStation 3, though. Stringer continued to explain that the platform is planned to become a common strand that can be accessed via many Sony products. The Video Service will spread across "key Sony products" through fiscal year 2010. VAIO laptops, Bravia televisions, and even Sony-Ericsson handhelds will eventually be able to access the same on-demand library that will see its genesis with the PlayStation 3.

It's unclear whether or not Sony plans to make the store available for the PlayStation Portable at the same time. The PSP has its own version of the PlayStation Store with a healthy amount of content. Just with the remote play ability of the units already implemented, however, the PSP will instantly become a mobile on-demand media device. Users already have the ability to remotely access their PS3s over Wi-Fi with their PSPs. When the video store launches, users will be able to turn on their PS3s, download new videos onto their consoles, and stream them to their PSPs: all over the internet from wherever they happen to be.


The planned expansion of the new video service.
In the war of the consoles, Sony is arguably late to the game with on-demand video content. Competitor Microsoft launched its own video service last year to surprising success, outdoing the likes of the AppleTV in sales shortly following its launch. One deficiency that Sony may be looking to capitalize on, though, is the poor international support of the Xbox Live Video Marketplace. Canadians, Europeans, and other non-US Xbox 360 owners have had very little content to choose from.

Sony of course has the upper hand on Microsoft with regard to potential content. The company will surely leverage its Sony Pictures division to bring a wealth of content to the service from the get-go without having to dance through a number of tentative deals like Microsoft did. Stringer's presentation notes some of the latest Sony-published media that could very well become fodder for the video service later this year, including the likes of Hancock and Pineapple Express, and television shows like The Shield and Rescue Me.

With the ability to play back content in 1080p and the only high-definition discs moving forward in Blu-ray, Sony is in a strong position to offer the most well-rounded contender for the title of ultimate "one-stop" entertainment center. And with continued momentum and a strong line-up of titles due through the end of 2009, including the likes of Resistance 2, Killzone 2, LittleBigPlanet, and more, Sony is in position to steal the spotlight on two separate fronts.

The advent of video downloads on the PlayStation 3 was an inevitability, and this brief glimpse into the service is likely only the first tidbit of news regarding the company's offerings that we'll be seeing. With E3 around the corner, official plans are likely only a few weeks away. Ars will be on-site at E3 in Los Angeles this July, so expect further coverage as more information arrives.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...downloads.html

Who ever thinks dowloads are a good idea now raise your hand....................................good me ether, though i see alot of people changing there tunes now. i for one will not be downloading anything, blu-ray is still the best choice.

[Marine Mike]

Originally Posted by saprano

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post...downloads.html

Who ever thinks dowloads are a good idea now raise your hand....................................good me ether, though i see alot of people changing there tunes now. i for one will not be downloading anything, blu-ray is still the best choice.

*raises his hand*

This is a great idea and puts Sony in a better place market-wise. No one here is saying its better than Blu-Ray. What we are saying is that its a great addition to the PS3 and makes it a more advanced system.

Now if they were going to say 'We are cutting off Blu-Ray capabilities on our PS3 and its going to be download-only' then of course I'd be upset. But they are not and are just trying to make more money while they are supporting digital downloading, they are also supporting Blu-Ray.

[Blu-ray Fanatic]

If they were to cut off the blu-ray player, then there would be no point in owning one. If it does happen they better give everyone a warning at least so that we all can sell it before the downloads take place.

[TheTenth]

another garbage communication idea from Sony :
1) ads with stupid characters noone will understand
2) copying the HD DVD features PiP and internet connectivity : will only decrease the movie viewing pleasure
3) removing BC from the 40Gb, after announcing (before launch) that PS2 game scould be downloaded in the future
4) selling limited demos in Quore
5) now this : it's the best way to confuse people who will not understand why they download DVD quality movies and they have a Blu-ray player in the PS3 ...